Apollonian And Dionysian
...society. The Apollonian man was given its name from Apollo, the sun-
god. He represents light, clarity, and form. The Dionysian man was given its name from
the Greek god Dionysus. As the wine-god, he represents drunkenness and ecstasy. The
Dionysian was the primal aspect of reality, as well as raw nature, life and death, pleasure
and pain, desire, passion, sex, and aggression. It is the source of primal instincts. "The
Dionysian with its primal pleasure-experienced even in pain- is the common womb of
music and tragic myth...the Apolline is the realm of dreams and ideal forms."("The Birth of
Tragedy" Nietzsche, 1871) The Apollonian is the humanized aspect of reality, civilization,
harmony, and balance. It follows order, form, status, peace, moderation, permanence,
symbolism, language, and reason. In modern psychological terms it is the Ego and
Superego. The complexities of the Dionysian person verses the Apollonian person will be
explored using Robert Johnson's Ecstasy.
The Dionysian name emphazing the irrational element of frenzy was found in the
rites of Dionysus. This book explores the nature of ecstasy through the myth of Dionysus.
In ancient Greece, Dionysus was the god of wine and ecstasy. "The myth of Dionysus is a
picture of the forces, behaviors, and instincts that shape our inner world. He is a complex
figure who symbolizes the irrational world of our senses as it interacts with the rational
world of rules and limitations."(Johnson, 11)
Zeus, in disguise, traveled on earth and came upon the city of Thebes. He fell
hopelessly in love with Semele, the daughter of King Cadmus. She became pregnant and
wanted to look into the eyes of her lover. She asked Zeus to grant her a boon. He made
an oath with the River of Styx. This oath exclaimed she could have...
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